Vending machine



P. CEDAR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 'IEXTOR.

/72 Zip Cedar ATTORNEY.

VENDING MACHINE Filed April 3, 1933 v!nlfllllilllf'lIlflllll"llllilill'll'l I i April 9, 1935.

April 9, 1935. P. CEDAR v 1,997,452

VENDING MACHINE Filed April 3, 1953 2 SheetsSheet 2 E I I w ll I :11

Ill:

f-za" Philip Cedar Patented 9, 1935 w l 7 f ED- TE IP T'i 1 l w 2 1,997,452 VENDING MACHINE 1 Philip (ledarpClevelanclgOhio t n v Applicationfzipril s, 1933, Serial No.:664,232. n t p 2Claims; "(orsizasyff H n a This invention relates tovending machines, and I slightly longer andslightly'wider than the .I'elonhas more particular reference to an. improved gated articles 8 to be dispensed. The articles'8 7 machine for, vending elongated articles suchas are placed horizontally in superposed relation cigarettes, cigars, and the like. 1 within thehopper G and'are shown for example The primary object of the present invention is as consisting of cigarettes adapted tobe ,vended to provide avending: machine of the above kind singly. The casing 5 isprovidedwith a hinged having novel, coin-controlled. article-dispensing or openable cover 9 so that access may be had to means which is extremely simple in construction; the top of *hopper 6 for replenishing the supply. of I efiicientin operation, and unlikely to readilyget' articles to be vended from time to time. Suit- 10 out of working order. j i i able means,1n ot shownwillof'coursebe provided 10 More particularly, the present invention confor locking thecover 9 closed to prevent unauthor templates the provision of a vending machine ized access to the interior of thecasing. wherein the articles to be. dispensed are. fed" one ,jThe hopper E is sustained by a horizontal plate at a time between a pair of gates in position tov be l0 mounted within the casing 5 and having a slot dispensed, one of the gatesbeing yieldably urged conforming in size and shape to 'that of the dis 1'5.

' 40 3-3 ofFigure 1.] l 7 toward the otherto retain thelowermost article," charge opening 'I' of the hopper 6 andnregistered and whereinmeans engageable by the coin in a I with said discharge opening 1. Obviously, the manually operable coin slide, is" provided tomove plat maybe Constituted'by al eXtnSiOnS themovablegate away'from the cooperating gate of the front andrear walls of hopper 6 as shown- I to effect discharge of the lowermost article from Arranged in spaced relationto'and belowtheplate 20 j the machine. .1 '1 i I0 isanother plate It having a discharge opening The inventionfurther contemplates provision I2 arranged in vertical alinenient with the'disof means for promptly andpositively discharging charge opening! of hopper fitopermit the article the coin from the coin slide as soon as the low- 8 to pass therethro-ugh' when released by'the coinermost article is released by'the gates'iso' that. the controlled "means tobe presently described; An 25 movable gate maybe instantaneously returned toinclined chute 13 is arranged below theplate-H ward the cooperating ,gatemember for engaging onto'which the articles fall-as they are dispensed and supporting the next succeeding articleinpoand bymeans of which they maybe directed outsition' to be dispensed when the coin slide is again wardly and downwardly to; a point exteriorly' of operated. if: 5-

Other objects and features of the invention will front wall of the casing 5 is provided withfaslot, become apparent from thefollowing description or opening" l4 through which thearticles are diswhen considered in connection withthe accomcharged by passing down the chute l3, and the panying drawings, in which: latter is formed exteriorly of the casing or directly the casing for delivery to the customer. ,The 30,

Figure l is a front elevational view ofa vending in frontflof' the slotcr opening l4 with'a'trough I machine embodying the present invention.- r or tray i5 into which the articles are ultimately Figure 2 isv an enlarged vertical section on line delivered in p'osition' to be conveniently removedv 2-2 of Figure l. j by the customer. 'Upstanding and "diverging Fig'ureB is'an enlarged vertical section on line flanges' I6 maybe provided at the front and'rear v ofgthe slot ll! of plate H to positively direct the 4.0 :Figure& is a viewpartly in vertical section and articles to said slot 12. onto thechute l3 as they partly in elevation with the plane of section at arejdispensed from the hopperlfi. As shown, the rightangles to that of Figure 2; and I lower .plate- Hlmay be supported by and spaced Figure 5is'a hori ontal section on line 5-5 of fromthe plate 10 through the medium of bolts Figure 4. 1' '1 *1. N lland "spacing sleeves l8 respectively passing 45 Referring in detail to the drawings, the present throughand arranged between said plates Ill and vending machine includes asuitable casing 5 withi l,,th'e sleeves 18 being provided on the bolts 11 in and adjacent oneside of'which is mounteda as'shown in Figure 2. hopper or magazine 6 adapted to contain the arti- The coin-controlledmeans for T dispensing the 50.? cles to be dispensed orf vended. Thehopper 6 articles includes ap'air of gates l9 and 20 mount-- extendsfrom the top ofzthecasing 5 to a point ed on the under side of. the upper plate 10 respaced above the-bottom ofthe'latter as shown spectively at the front andrear sides of disclearly in Figures 2,. 3 and 4, and the frontand charge opening I of hopper 6 and between which rear walls of said hopper converge in "a downward thearticles 8 are adapted to be'successively fed 551 direction to provide a bottom discharge opening by gravity one at a timeto be supported in po- 55,

is mounted in a fixed position although adjustably hinged so that it may be set in the proper relation to gate 20 in accordance with the size and nature of the articles to be dispensed. For this reason, the gate I9 is hingedly mounted on a pivot pin 2| and has a barrel carrying a set screw 22 adapted to impinge against the pivot pin 2| to secure the gate [9 in adjusted position. The gate 20 is hinged .as at 2.3 for free swinging movement about a horizontal axis toward and from the gate l9, said gate 29 depending from a hinged barrel integral therewith and having its said hinged barrel extended to one side of the hopper as indicated at 24 in Figure 5. The hinged ba rel extension 24 of swinging gate 20 is provided with a rigid depending arm 25, and rigid with and extending forwardly from the intermediate portion of arm 25 is a second arm 2.6 to which is attached one end of a helical tension spring 21 having its other end attached to the plate. In so that :said :spring norma'lly acts to a swing the gate 20 toward the gate .119 so (that the lowermost article :8 isreceived between :and :supported by said gates :intposition to be dispensed. Movement of gate 20 toward gate :59 is properly limited by any suitable means such as a cross piece 28 provided intermediate the ends of .an

elongated slot 29 provided in .a .further plate 3.0

' mounted in the casing .5 in spaced relation to and above the plate ,:I l. The arm 25 depends through and works freely in the rear portion of slot 29, and also extends through and is freely movable in alined slots 3| and 32 of plate 1 and of-a coin slide movably .mounted and guided between said plates ll and 1.30 as shown clearly in Figure 3; It will :be seen that the slot 32 extends rearwardly from a coin-:receiving opening .34 of slide 33. .Thearrangement is-such that a [c.oin'placed in opening 34 will engage arm 25 when slide 33 is pushed rearwardly or inwardly so as to swing gate 2ll-away from gate 19 and release the lowermost article so that it will be dis-v pensed from the machine bypassing downwardly through slot 12- and then being delivered outwardly otthe casing through opening 14. into tray l5. At the same-time, the arm 26 moves downwardly into engagement with the coin so as to positively and promptly eject said coin from 4 the, slide downwardly into a coin receptacle 35 provided in thebottom of I casing beneath the plate l, theforward portion of slot/3! in plate H being sufiiciently large to permit the'downward passage of the coin therethrough. Obviously, assoon as the coin is ejected from the slide into the coin receptacle 35, the arm 25 is releasedso that the spring 21 may immediately return the gate 20 to its normalposition where it cooperates with thegate IQ for receiving and sustaining the next succeeding article in position to be dispensed when the coin slide is agai'nproperly actuated with ajsecond coin disposed in its opening 34. By varying the interval between the opening movement of gate 20 and the ejection of the coin from the slide 33; the number of articles dispensed at each operation may be varied within certain limits, With the arrangement shown, the arm 26 is arranged to eject the coin as soon as the gate 20 is opened, thereby permitting return movement of gate 20 intime to only permit the dispensing of one article at a time.

The plate; H has a forward extension 36 that projects through the front of the casing to support the. outer end of slide 33, the front of casing 5 being provided with a narrowslot directly above the extension 36 through which the slide 33 moves. As is usual in coin slides, the outer end of slide 33 has an upturned end or finger piece 31 to facilitate its manual actuation. It will of course be understood that the slide33 may be back wall of the casing as at 38 so that the coin receptacle may be swung downwardly and rearwardly to an open position when removal of head ends facing the front of the casing '5. The

lower portions of the side walls of hopper 40are disposed in downwardly converging relation as indicated at 4| where they join at their lower edges with the sides'of a' forwardly and downwardly inclined trough 42 of a width slightly greater than the diameter of a single match. The

the coins is desired. Any suitable form of key controlled means 39 may be provided for locking the coinreceptacle in closed position as shown lower end of trough'42 registers with a small opening 43 in the front wall of casing 5, which opening'43 is also of a diameter slightlygreater than that of thehead of a single match so that discharge of the matches is permitted only one at a time. Due to theinclined position of trough 42, the matcheswillgravitate toward the front of easing 5 and the lowermost match will ordiraily projectthrough the opening 43 in position to be grasped and removed; As each match is removed another match will immediately take its place with the head end thereof projecting slightly through the opening 43. However, should the matches become clogged in the trough 42, a slight jar of the casing will cause oneof them t project properly for'convenient removal.

In the operation of the coin-controlled dispensing means, the slide 33 is pulled'outwardly to the position of Figure 5 and a coin is placed in the opening34 of the'slide, outward movement of said slide being suitably limited as is well known in the art. The slide is then pushed rearwardly or inwardly and when it reaches thefull line position of Figure 3 the coin will have engaged the arm so as to cause the gate 20 to swing away from gate l9 upon furtherinward movement of slide 33 from the full line position of Figure 3 to the dotted line position thereof. This eifects release of the lowermost article} so that it may pass to the tray l5 by way. of slot I2 and, chute l3 and opening l4. As soon as the gate 20 is opened sufficiently to release the lowermost article, the opening 34 of slide 33 will have alined with the enlarged portion of slot 3| and the arm 26 will have engaged the coin so as to cause it to be promptly ejected from the slide into the receptacle 35. As soon as'the coin is ejected fromthe slide, the arm 25 is released so that. the spring 21 may promptly return the gate that the construction and operation as well as the advantages of the present invention will be readily understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art. It will be particularly noted that the construction is extremely compact, simple, durable and efficient. The coin-controlled .,mechanism embodies a minimum number of trail parts and is thereforeunlikely to readily get out of order, although being capable of'being quickly and economically repaired if found necessary. Minor changes in the details of construction illustrated and described are contemplated within the scope of the invention as claimed.

i What I claim as new is:

1. In a machine for vending cigars or like elongated articles, the combination of a casing, an article-holding magazine arranged in said casing and provided with a bottom discharge opening slightly longer and wider than the elongated articles to be dispensed, a pair of gates mounted in the casing directly beneath the magazine and longitudinally of and at opposite sides of said bottom discharge opening to receive therebetween each article as it is discharged from the magazine, one of said gates being movable toward and away from the other, yieldable means to move the movable gate toward the other gate togrip opposite sides of and support the discharged article in a position to be dispensed, and manually operable means to move said movable gate away from said other gate in opposition to said yieldable means for releasing the article gripped andsupported by said gates, said manually operable means comprising a slide device mounted beneath the gates and a depending member rigid with the "movable gate and arranged in the path of the slide device for actuation by the latter to operate the movable gate and release the article supported in position to be dispensed.

2. In a1machine for vendingcigars or like elongated articles, the combination of a casing,

an article-holding magazine arranged in said casing and comprising a hopper having downwardly converging front and rear walls providing a bottom {discharge opening slightly longer and wider than the elongated articles to be dispensed, said hopper extending downwardly from the top of and to a point spaced from the bottom of the casing, said casing having a top cover openable to permit access to said hopper, a horizontal plate rigidly. mounted inthe casing and on which said hopper is sustained, said plate having a slot registered withand conforming in size and shape to said bottom discharge opening ofthe hopper,

plate longitudinally of and at opposite sides of said slot to receive therebetween each article as thelother gateto grip opposite sides of and support the discharged articlein a position to be disa pair of gates mounted on the undersideof said.

pensed, and manually operable means including i a slide device mounted beneath the gate and operatively associated with the movable gate for actuating thelatter to release the article supported in position to be dispensed.

. PHILIP CEDAR. 

